Thank goodness this novel was a short novel, What was the hardest for me was the absolute raw and brutal honesty with which the abuse was treated in this novel.

Precious attends school but is so far behind in her education, she literally becomes "invisible" as she sits in the classroom without moving from her seat all day and sometimes urinating on herself. The author's use of slang and the crude spelling of words and sentence structure allowed me the chance to identify with the level of intelligence Precious had. I hurt for Precious because she had no self-esteem. It was really marvelous to see the progress Precious makes thru her journal writing and the use of Ebonics decreased as Claireece Precious Jones’ education increased, she actually becomes "visible".

I could only empathize with Precious because one can see that her horrific mother and deplorable father have abused her through no fault of her own. I read in disbelief as her hopes and dreams are disturbed by her affliction to HIV/AIDS but with perseverance and determination Precious still finds courage to PUSH and fight for her life. However, it raises some excellent 'action points' about the state of "humanity" and the "system" (welfare, schools, etc). "Push" does not offer a storybook ending and you don't know what is going to happen to Precious after the book ends. Your left with a piece of Precious in your heart.

Even though I could not relate to this book I was still touched by it. This was a hard book to get through due to emotional and moral sensitivities but wanting to know how she was going to rise above her circumstances kept me reading. It's not something I'll read again and again...but it's something that I'll think about for a long time. ( )

I knew from the first I heard of this book that it wasn't for me. I found it too vulgar and too hopeless. I know this will be a favorite for many people and I wish I could like it but I don't. ( )

First, let me say that this book shouldn't be read by those who are offended by bad language. I mean really bad language, the kind that would cause my mother to fly halfway across the country to wash out my mouth with soap kind of bad. And it shouldn't be read by those who hate reading about awful, horrible situations that should never happen to anyone, things like a twelve-year old raped by her father and having a baby she calls Mongo, short for Mongoloid. Or those who can't stand for a young narrator to speak explicitly of sex, in down and low street terms.

Given those disclaimers, I thought this was a fabulous book. It's short at 140 pages and a few additional “life story” pages at the end. What a story it packs onto those few pages! You can't help but cheer for Precious, the overweight, pregnant girl who wants to be skinny and lighter so she would be loved. Her life never becomes easy, but she keeps fighting to make it better. She got good grades in school even though she was illiterate because she just stayed in the back of the room and kept quiet. But now, after being kicked out of school because of her second pregnancy by her father, she learns of an alternative school, and really wants to learn. She is a natural poet and is encouraged by a teacher who can see her potential.

I don't know what the movie, Precious, based on this book will be like, but Sapphire has written a tough and beautiful story that I will remember for a long time. ( )

A horrific life told in a few pages causing tears when some writers take nine hundred pages to say nothing. ( )

Precious is sixteen, illiterate, and pregnant with her second child by her own father. But when she gets kicked out of junior high and starts attending an alternative school, her life finally starts to turn around.

This is written in an experimental style, very stream-of-consciousness, with lots of dialect to mimic the way precious talks. Some parts are even written as if Precious had written them herself, complete with spelling errors, which gradually improve over the course of the book. I didn't find that a barrier at all, though. It was really easy to read (I zipped through it in two sittings). The last fifty pages or so of the book are essays and poems written by Precious and the other girls in her class.

Pretty much everything bad you could imagine happening has happened to Precious and it sometimes seems like overkill, but overall I really enjoyed the book. And I'm glad the ending was optimistic but realistic and not all magically wonderful.

I'm definitely interested in seeing the movie, though probably not til it's out on DVD. I was looking at the cast, though, and um...wtf? The teacher is described as dark with dreads, yet somehow in the movie she is really lightskinned and has wavy hair. It's like they made her as close to a Nice White Lady as possible without actually casting a white actress. D: ( )